fe_male | memeboxing

[ She tracks his movement carefully, reaches out carefully with her mind once he's not in sight anymore, verification that he's still nearby. When he comes back in she relaxes visibly, still watching him. ]

I'm all good. [ reconsidering. ] Been a lot worse. The painkillers are working pretty well.

[ He tries to stay within her field of vision as much as he can, chatting idly when he knows he is no longer in sight, just to make sure she knows he's still there - it's the sort of thing he would have appreciated were he in her current position, so. It doesn't take him long to return with the item in question - polished, very Tony Stark-looking, all things told. ]

Good. Let me know if you need - or, her, if you just want more. I don't judge. Not much, anyway. And between me and you, I'd want all the painkillers. I'm going to try and seal that gash now, okay? Might be a bit chilly.

[ The thing he brought is aimed, rather like a gun would be, at the far end of the cut across her torso, and he activates it, allowing some goopy stuff to thinly coat the cut itself, all the way across the wound. Thus done, he looks at it somewhat quizzically, and then after twenty seconds have passed, he pokes it likely. ] Looks like it held. Hey, good news - no actual stitches.

[ Reason #234945 he is her favorite ever. She doesn't answer his idle chatter, but it helps. The thing he brings back gets nothing more than a glance, watching him instead. Always him. ]

I don't like painkillers more than I have to. [ Casually. One dose was - well, he hadn't actually asked her, but she would have said yes, everything had kind of hurt a lot and she was safe. More than that she wasn't too keen on.

She watches him throughout the process, laughs just a little when he pokes it because a) painkillers b) it's familiar and nice and she's still alive. That's pretty cool. ] Maybe that'll cut down on scarring. I don't need any more of those.

[ He didn't ask her because he did need her at least coherent and leveled enough to tell him anything important, and a brain in pain is not a particularly rational one.

The actual comment about painkillers is one he can't quite tell the appropriate reaction for, so he opts for the more playful: ] Yeah, you're a weirdo. [ It's a bit safer anyway. More familiar.

The laughter though, that's actually very nice to hear. He himself perks up a bit at that, because laughter, sure, okay, this might all be okay. ] I'm told chicks dig scars. Is that some sort of urban myth? Chicks dig scars only on other people, maybe. A kind of corollary. You want a lollipop? I can probably find one. Or a sticker. You just did such a good job.

[ Hers is totally rational in pain, okay, she's had a lot of training in this. (It is still not as rational as she would like.)

She rolls her eyes. ] Your face is a weirdo. [ Sticking her tongue out too for good measure. Drugs, man. ]

Totally a corollary. It's an inherent contradiction thing, but it's still true. Scars look good on everyone else. Dashing, even. [ She blinks, looks at him and frowns for a moment. ] Just to clarify, I'm definitely not dying?

[ The look he is giving you. He is so unimpressed with you right now. And so so amused. Payback's a bitch just handing your friends all the blackmail material they could ever want. Although really she doesn't seem too bad, in his opinion. He'll just poke her in the side that's numbed again.

Oh, look, seriousness. ] Far as I can tell. You lost a lot of blood though, so you need to take it easy a couple of days. Drink a few gallons of water and stuff - you'll be really dehydrated. And maybe get some sort of vitamin supplement I guess. But no dying.

[ Hey. Hey, she lost a lot of blood and then you gave her the good stuff, blackmail at this point would be a really terrible use of anything she might happen to do. And she is doing pretty well, she's doing great. She would like to think she's doing fantastically, personally. Her gaze flickers down to his finger as he pokes her, eyes narrowing as she looks back up at him. ] If you think you can just get away with stuff because I'm hurt you're in for a surprise.

[ Yeah, well, minorly. Partially she did have a moment of temporary panic back there and thought of a shitload of things she'd never said to him but wanted to someday, but they were all the kinds of things you can't say to somebody if you're going to die because that's a genuinely shitty thing to do to someone. At least in her estimation it is. ] Well, awesome. Thank you, Doctor Stark, pleasure being in your care, can I get up now?

[ She laughed at him last time his drugs got him high. It only seems fair. ]

What are you gonna do to stop me? You're as dangerous as a slightly high pressurized super soaker right now. Maybe an angry, semi-armed teddy bear. And don't you dare get off this table to try and prove me otherwise.

[ Sounds like she's thinking from experience. ] I actually am a doctor. Not medically, but. The skin is healed but the underlying muscle layer is still injured, so if you move around too much it'll take longer to knit back together. I just stopped the bleeding and introduced a protein to help it jumpstart the healing process in general - it's not fixed yet. Also you're high on painkillers, so. No. You get to stay here.

[ Well. Yes. Fair point. ]

I'm always dangerous, that's a terrible lie, take it back. [ He's actually mostly right there, she's just pretty used to getting back up and keeping going with injuries and kind of assumes she can always do it. Even when it's just a blatantly terrible idea.

It never happened to her (and she is immeasurably happy about that), but she saw it happen a few times and it never worked out well. ] You're at least two doctors, aren't you. Best I could hope for. [ wait except for that she's not okay with that doctor's opinion. ] Seriously? Come on, I'll be careful, Tony, I don't want to stay still.

I'll take it back when it's actually a horrible horrible no good very bad lie again. Right now it isn't, so. [ Two can play the sticking-tongues-out game.

And he sort of laughs. ] Okay, so, as 'two doctors', I'm giving you a second opinion. You're staying in the bed. [ pause for effect. ] At least another half hour, okay? Give the proteins time to get things going in the subcutaneous, and then you can carefully move around a little. A little. Deal?

The point of always is that it's never not true, okay. I could have taken down three of him. [ Oh, two can, but it's totally rude for him and not for her, she said so. Though in actuality she's just pleased that he's sticking his tongue out and sort of laughing because she doesn't want him to worry about her. At all, preferably. ]

That was a terrible second opinion. [ Sighing as she shifts a little and then settles back, watching him. ] But fine. Deal. If you're staying. You're staying, right?

I totally believe you, but in this case, for whatever reason, and I really don't need to know or care about that reason, you didn't, so. [ That's that.

And he glances down at her with a look. ] Of course I'm staying. Like I trust you to actually stay in this bed for half an hour as soon as I leave the room. [ He's kidding, mostly. He does think you value your health at least enough to follow the letter of his directions, but to a degree he thinks you'd find a way around it. Really he's just disguising the fact that there's no way in hell he's going to leave you when he was just recently so so so worried that you were going to be permanently leaving him. Actually, over the next half hour, the payback for having blocked things and put others off and utilized different things before is going to catch up with him, but he's going to put that off as much as possible. Maybe he'll even make it to tonight, when she's asleep in her room and he can quietly fall a little to pieces in the sanctity of his own, the night a cloaking device until the morning, when he'll emerge and appear as thought nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. ]

[ She kind of grimaces at that a little bit, doesn't answer because yeah, that's that. She didn't. She let someone get the drop on her. She can't categorically say it would never have happened before, but it wouldn't have been that easy. She should have had him from go.

She shrugs a little bit, as she can. It's not an inaccurate idea. She really would be quite likely to figure out some method of circumventing it in a way she felt was healthy enough. So instead of trying to contradict it she just lifts a hand in a reach for his. ] I scared you. [ A statement, rather than a question, because she'd been wide open to everything for some time back there and she'd felt his worry. ] Sorry. [ She doesn't have the energy to try to reach out to his mind yet, but she's a little worried about his own head's state of affairs. His specifically or not, a guide in danger is never good for a sentinel. ]

[ Well, maybe he's overreacting. Over-mapping things out in his head. Maybe it'll be okay. He can't quite tell yet, but he pauses in putting bandages and such away - the smaller cuts and bruises and antibacterial things of a similar nature - and takes her hand. She's just not usually in danger, really, and he's not always that sure what to do about it when she is. (When any guide is, really, but that's another matter.) There's a few moments of just, calmness, looking back down at her, before he comes back to himself entirely. ]

Pretty sure you scared you too. Just don't do it again and we'll be good, deal?

[ A little tentatively, she brushes his mind, just checking in, looking for permission. If something is wrong, she's not sure she'll be able to fix it right now, but she wants to at least know. When he gives her his hand she holds onto it firmly, because the adrenaline's all seeped out and the oh-god-I-could-have-not-made-it is kicking in and she doesn't want to be alone right now, or still, or - she takes a deep breath and lets it out, winces. She doesn't want to be pushed back into memories she doesn't want, mostly, and his hand is a solid anchor in the nowness of things. She watches him watching her, face settling into calm neutrality, a mask for now because the way she's feeling she doesn't want to let on her face. ]

I don't scare that easy. [ false bravado in every sense of the word. ] But I'll avoid it. In the future.

[ He's not actually sure how much permission he wants to give here, because he was honestly, seriously rattled, and he has yet to work out the depths of that himself, so letting her see that might be upsetting to a degree, but also not letting her see anything - or obviously blocking an obvious part of himself off - would also be upsetting, he imagines. Based on how she's reacted to that sort of thing the few times he's done it in the past. So he eases her in, lets the brush connect with whatever amount of reassurance he can cobble together at the moment's notice, not really hiding anything or showing off anything specific. It's the same thing she's doing with her face in response to his own unasked query, and at that realization, he blinks a little, loosens his scrutiny, tightens his grip, lightens his own expression, because hey, they can do this. Technically they already have, so, obviously. ]

No, you don't. So the next time something like that happens I fully expect you to be protecting me while I hide in the corner. Just saying. [ what was that about false fronts? ] Of course you will - I just told you to. Tony Stark speaks and it is done.

[ She doesn't look at anything too closely, just kind of rests in the reassurance and stretches a little, more looking for anything out of place than at specifics. Half distracting herself and half worried about him and all wrapped up in feelings she refuses to acknowledge and is working on keeping back while she's in his mind. She keeps her grip firm, tries to make sure she's not holding on too tight because right now she thinks it would be very easy to do that, to just keep holding on tighter and tighter. She really doesn't want to break anything of his, that seems like it would be a horrible addition to the day. ]

No problem. [ a hint of a smile at the edge of her lips. ] Uh-huh. That easy. There's room for two on here I bet you'd be more comfortable.

[ Good, because he's all but slathering her little bit of herself in his mind with reassurance and good things, happy things, calm, safe things.

I doubt she could actually do any lasting damage to his hand just holding it with the one of hers, but he understands the sentiment. And okay, hmm. Evaluating the bed, multiple reasons really, he shrugs and assumes that by how easy it is to offer such reassurances to her and how hard it is for her to get them, he nods a bit, extricating himself from a few parts he sudden;y had on his person in stages. Climbing onto the bed is a bit trickier, since he isn't sure where he other injuries are, if they even have any. ]

Totally right. Far more comfy.

[ For someone who hadn't had an overabundance of experience with empaths before her, he's actually quite good at that whole reassurance thing.

She breathes out a sigh when he agrees, shifts over just a little bit to make sure there's room for him. ] I'll tell you if you're too close to anything. [ A little absently, paying attention to him more, waiting until he's settled to shift again and press up against him a little bit, as she can. Not a lot, because moving too much is against the rules, but enough. ] Yup. Super right. Thanks.

[ Yes, well, he's pretty good at empathizing with people who have been in nearly the exact same situations he's been in before. It's just part of his charm, you know. Multi-layered compatibility and all. He'd be surprised to hear he's apparently just naturally not bad at it though.

For the moment, he's a little higher on the bed than she is, because he doesn't want to totally lie down and miss something, and because it's easier to put his arm around her when she's actually under it to some degree. But she's allowed to get as close as she wants - moving around on the bed as long as it isn't part of moving off the bed is mostly okay. ]

There isn't going to be a next time, though. For the record.

[ It helps his case that really this is the first time someone's actively tried to do that for her in a while, but he's doing a pretty good job. She's really quite happy about that.

So long as he's there she's good with however he wants to stay, and his arm around her is secure. She lets her breathing settle to something even, shifts again until she's as close as she can get without disturbing anything that shouldn't be disturbed. ] Seriously. I think this makes - four. Four? Yeah. I think that's enough for anyone. I'm done. Quitting the dangerous amounts of blood loss scene.

[ Well she's been teaching him a lot, inadvertently or no, just by being around. He wouldn't be Tony Stark if he didn't pick up on things quickly. Most things, anyway, and this is one he has a vested interest in, even if that interest is subconscious.

His instinct is to hold her tight to him, possibly never let her go, if he can help it, but as it is he just manages something that's secure, firm, but hopefully still a bit loose and not too hard. It's complicated, but he tries. ] Four's a pretty crappy learning curve, you ask me. It's supposed to be three, and that's only if you're average, which you clearly aren't.

[ She'd be pretty pleased to know he considered it worth the effort to pick up on that.

And she'd also be pretty okay with him never letting go, because he's warm and comfortable and a reminder of everything that's exactly the opposite of blood and the encrouching cold of a bad wound. ] Well, I made the mistake of picking high risk jobs. And being a pain in the ass to the bad guys in both. [ Softer, not particularly meant to be said out loud. ] Still never got used to it.

[ Only for you and maybe like, one or two other people is he such a good pillow. Be proud of yourself. ] Yeah, high risk pain in the ass is a pretty dangerous combo. [ Nerves, nerves. He can feel her pulse, and right now it's a mix between loud and soothing in its steadiness. Not quite like his own, with its occasional arrhythmia. ] But it's a combo that usually goes together regardless. [ And oh, well. Things. What do. ] I don't think you're supposed to.

[ If she considers it at some point, she will be super proud of herself. For now she is just snuggling closer and closing her eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat in turn and his breathing right there. Everything's safe. ] You'd know all about that combo. [ A faint grimace. ] It just gets tiring still dreaming about them. Can't your brain get used to that shit already and ignore it?

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